My World Is Empty Without You

Like many Supremes songs, this is a tale of heartache with an uptempo beat supplied by the legendary Motown session musicians known as the Funk Brothers. Sax player Henry Cosby has a prominent part, as does bass player James Jamerson.

This was written by the Motown songwriting team of Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland, who were known collectively as Holland-Dozier-Holland. According to Lamont Dozier, the sacrifices he made to become a top songwriter at Motown cost him dearly in his personal life, which inspired this song. "When you have no one to share your good fortune with, it can be a very grim and lonely time," he said. "A lot of the sacrifice for this fame and fortune was made, including losing one of the loves of my life."

At the time, The Supremes were Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard, but Ross had emerged as the lead singer and focal point of the group. This didn't sit well with Ballard, who was on the outs with Motown head Berry Gordy. She didn't show up for the "My World Is Empty Without You" session and was replaced on the track by Marlene Barrow, who often backed The Four Tops. Gordy considered replacing Ballard with Barrow, but was talked out of it. Ballard lasted another year in the group before she was replaced with Cindy Birdsong. Most listeners can't tell that Ballard isn't on this track, which is partly because the backup vocals are low in the mix, emphasizing Diana Ross' lead.